With each new day, you can guarantee that some very bright people are planning get-togethers designed to have massive impacts for everyone involved. The settings can be musical, artistic, creative, academic or business-focused; these are events you hear about before saying, “that sounds awesome,” and “sign me up.” This actively researched and updated blog series is my answer to helping people learn about ultimate events on a timely basis.

Follow this link to the official Events listing for this year’s Live Design International (LDI) Show, running 13-19 November: http://www.ldishow.comRead more

I have a longstanding working relationship with a CEO who recently changed jobs. Coming into his new company, he told me that his mantra was this: He intended to center every marketing initiative around PR strategy. In virtually every industry, I’m seeing many wise marketing industry leaders endorsing this idea. Another prominent example from the past several years comes from Jason Harris of San Francisco- and NYC-based Mekanism, where in an interview with HubSpot.com, he described his agency’s framework for creating shareable content.

“Our approach is to always think about the PR headline. Why will the idea, content, innovation, etc., travel? Why will people care, and why will they want to talk about it and share it? If there is no PR headline, the idea won’t be shareable. That is our goal on every project.”

The video I’m embedding with this article perfectly demonstrates the increasing focus on PR, presenting the 47-minute “Content & Storytelling: Is the PR Landscape Shifting?” session from the 2014 CDO Summit in NYC. Read more

The publishers of Campaign, a leading business media brand serving the marketing, advertising and media communities, offer an editorial on their website entitled “What’s the secret of a long ‘marriage’?” In that, former Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief executive and current CEO of Girl Effect Farah Ramzan Golant offers these wise words: “The key to long-term client relationships is constant reinvigoration…. You should constantly be looking at how you can do things differently, keep freshening the account teams and stay ahead of the game.” As a communications consultant providing ongoing, dedicated counsel to a small roster of clients, I firmly believe in these vows. Among many activities aimed at ongoing education and innovation, I regularly participate in webinars being presented by industry thoughtleaders, adopting the best ideas and lessons into my arsenal. One in particular, presented by five-time published author and entrepreneur Deirdre Breakenridge entitled “Eight Techniques of the New PR Champion,” began paying dividends immediately. Read more

Several very prestigious design awards programs are currently open for entries – I thought you would appreciate the heads-up and some brief details… which I am presenting in order of the currently published submission deadlines. Best of luck friends! Read more

Thanks to some Herculean feats by the illustrious organizers of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad – and over 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees, including first-time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan – we have witnessed quite a show over the past several days. Haven’t we?

Technically, I was among the first people complaining about the blinding number and frequency of commercials aired during the Opening Ceremony; wow. In the early going, that programming approach stole the show in many ways, from my point of view – but I must admit that we all rely on advertising and sponsorship to a great extent to allow us to experience the Olympics. Since my clients are craftspeople of the highest order producing spectacular commercials and branded content, I can appreciate the value of creative advertising… but I agree with the broadcasters’ latest assessments, which have been forced to acknowledge how much viewers’ tastes have changed.

Synchronized with the broadcast of the Opening Ceremony from the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics on Aug. 5, my friend Ann Christine Diaz published this story in Ad Age, highlighting many of the major brands who bought time, so that NBC’s viewers could watch the show for free: Read more

About 13 years ago, the UK’s most visited marketing news publication The Drum launched a very special awards program which has done much more than just stand up over time; with each passing year, it is proving to be of increasing importance. Well known as the only creative awards scheme with neither rules nor boundaries, the submission window for the 2016 Chip Shop Awards will close on April 1. Here’s what you should know. Read more

Thirty years ago, the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival began in Austin, Texas. Having grown to essentially become all things to all people, the event’s concurrent film, interactive media and music festivals and conferences attract 85,000 attendees, which includes the lion’s share of the entertainment and advertising industries, as well as the brand marketers wanting to engage with them. This year’s SXSW will launch on 11 March and run on through the 20th. Perhaps slightly less well known is the fact that SXSW, Inc., also runs the SXSWedu conference on educational innovation (running 7-10 March this year in Austin), the SXSW Eco environmental conference (set for 10-12 Oct. in Austin), and SXSW V2V focused on innovative startups (future dates and locations TBD).

I’ve just taken a fresh look at all the relevant news feeds to point you to the pure gospel. Enlightenment awaits: Read more

Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s premier website competitions, Awwwards aims to recognize and promote the best of innovative web design and the talent and efforts of the best web designers, developers and agencies in the world.

At Awwwards Conferences held each year in the planet’s most iconic cities, digital architects, pixel visionaries and curators of dreams come together to share their best-kept secrets and unveil their keys to success. Read more

Proudly marking its 12th year in New York, Advertising Week is a hybrid of inspiring thought-leadership and highly entertaining special events featuring the industry’s best and brightest. With the world’s greatest city as its backdrop, Advertising Week draws from the brand, agency, technology, startup, media and broader cultural communities, advancing key conversations designed to drive the ad business forward and influence industry globally.

For 2015, Advertising Week will once again shine the spotlight on critical business drivers shaping and influencing these combined industries worldwide. In the words of its organizers, “Measured by breadth, scope and impact, Advertising Week transcends standard industry conferences and moves the needle on essential industry challenges like talent and diversity.”